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Monday, March 01, 2010

Soldiers of Sonia Love

You asked to see the Sonias I "won" at last Saturday's sale at H&M. This is just one of my bags.The accessories I 'won'. They gave me a free black satin Sonia bag! Moi outfitted head-to-toe in Sonia. Yay

In France only 9 shops carried the Sonia collection.Note a Sonia lover jumping the barracades.1000 Sonia addicts lined up at Boulevard Haussmann H&M branch and there were guards. Inside - pandemonium and chaos. One Sonia lover left a comment, "Thank you, my ankles and feet are much better today."

Note the fierce, desperate, "I want my Sonia!" look.

A video from Toulouse, but cover your ears. Meanwhile some Fr girls jumped for joy like Elodie. Pretty cute/mignon non?

When I heard Sade's new song this weekend, Soldier of Love, I thought this is our anthem all Sonia lovers and warriors and addicts out there.(with deepest apologies to SADE)We are Soldiers Of Love of Sonia!In the wild wild west/ouest of Parisdoin' our best to get some SoniaI have the will to surviveI've had stripe dresses torn away from me (oh!)I've been left behind waiting in the boulevard (Haussman)(oh!)So I rideI have the will to surviveI'm a soldier of love (of Sonia).Every day and nightI'm soldier of love (of Sonia)All the days of my life I'm at the borderline of my faith,I'm at the hinterland of my devotion to SoniaIn the frontline of this battle of mineBut I'm still alive Mad for Sonia?Study your stripes.You can be 80 and still find your inner French girlLearn your Sonia historyRead the Sonia blogListen to Sonia speak on her own brand of Frenchiness All Sonia Warriors, Sonia lovers, Sonia addictsArise!Unite!We are Soldiers of Sonia Love!This is a call to arms/stripesWe will march down the boulevard St.GermainWe will storm the baracadesWE WANT MORE SONIA!

Merci Anne,This post is my work of love, since I am not so generous as you and can not "donnate" some of my SONIAs to the less fortuanate :(Glutton! Piggie! Greedy!Oui...c'est moiGuilty as charged.But I will be happy to lead the charge to the baracades with any Sonia warriors who will join moi...ahem

Woaaaa Carol!Didn't know the "Drill Instructor" side of you 'til this morning's post.What we got here is a very militaristic artist, chompin' at the bit,pawing the pavements of her part of NY, barely containing herself 'til she can once again prowl the streets of Paree, for her fans of PB.Go girl! Bill

I adore your tales of Shopping Madness. I know you planned your assault down to the minutest detail: proper warrior shoes for the quick hit-and-run and clothes that will allow for aisle try-ons (skirts ALWAYS work).

I am traveling over to Chic & Geek to storm her contest! I just crave that Sonia beret.

I adore your tales of Shopping Madness. I know you planned your assault down to the minutest detail: proper warrior shoes for the quick hit-and-run and clothes that will allow for aisle try-ons (skirts ALWAYS work).

I am traveling over to Chic & Geek to storm her contest! I just crave that Sonia beret.

yeah french bloggers are in the place ! it's so funny...Thank you so much for your backlink, i'll do the same for you. We 'll go to NYC in a few month, maybe we'll drink a cup of coffee !!See you.Keep in touch/Nico

@Fenway I LOVE your "shopping madness"Many of these clever French girls get their men, true knights in shining armor, to go into the fray while they rest in bed.They give them lists and manifestos and pray the knights are not sidetracked by FNAC or some other manish place rather than buying lingerie etc.Very smart these Frenchies...We have so much catching up to do. Perhaps this is why Sonia took pity on US and gave us more armour to fight in the battle of Love...More stripes!!

@LULU - we will charter a plane to bring over all the Parisien French girlsBut you can only visit ONE designated H&M...I will have decide how many days you can visit the H&M..This could be a bad idea for NYC addicts :(

A lot of people were desappointed in Paris because they couldn't get one little piece of SR !!! You should try to sell them in Paris. Anyway, it's over, now. People already wait for the new event at H&M....la mode, la mode, la mode.....

Adorable, Carol. I will visit all the links when I'm out of my bathrobe (ahem). One thing that has me taken aback is probably generational/how things have changed in France. When I lived there, no one would be caught dead jostling like that in queues, jumping barricades, & looking desperate. Ever. (I am not criticizing, just reporting.) Wow. Must investigate.

I love your illustrations & I think Sade will forgive you. (I love her new "album.")

Your drawings are fun! Liked especially the tearful bereted heads with scarves. Are these, mayhaps, some of the French heads that were displaced in your clever new portrait project of affixing American heads to French bodies?

For those portraits -- just an idea -- maybe some of your copious clientele would wish to be garbed in Sonia?

As far as your not being able to wait for the next SR sale... just thinking how interesting and weird and human it is that when a hunger is fed, and seems to be sated, it intensifies instead....

@Shelley - how perceptive you are. I was having the same thoughts.1. Offer to paint ppl in Sonia outfits.2. Why am I not satisfied, now that I have more Sonia than I know what to do with..One answer might be, if I ever get my book proposal done, AND published I will have plenty to wear to book signings, assuming there are any..well that's assuming A LOT altogether!

Re: the H&M phenom Guilia The SR prices were ridiculously low for the quality and the brand.Everyone knew ahead what was for sale And there was a limited once-in-a-lifetime quantity.I bet things were no different in Louis XIV time...

Ach, the old problem of DESIRE! Some have said that part of the trouble is that beauty can't be "possessed".... Or that our desires are on a deeper level, and only appear to be for beauty, or romance, or fame, or riches, or whatever it is we're currently wanting....

Except of course the desire for macarons. That is real and fundamental and must not, for any reason, be overanalyzed.

But what is really important here is your mention of a BOOK! A proposal for a BOOK! With your savoir faire, of course it will be accepted. Tell all! Or, if that is untimely, a hint or clue please. I'm sure we're all dying to know!!

Does this mean that when I am in France in May everyone will be wearing these stripes? I know I never see these colors in Paris actually being worn by people. I've always wondered what happens to all of the colorful shoes in the windows in Paris, London and Rome. Are aliens swooping down and taking them away?

Michelle - i have been wondering the same thing. Do French women cross-shoe-dress only at home?Who buys all those colorful shoes?Sonia Rykiel is well known for her BlackSR says it's her favorite color.Therefore the splodges of brilliant color to lift the mostly black clothes.This is a Spring collection and for the kids too..bla blaI'm just jealous that I can't be a Soldat de Sonia. Though I had her red hair...until I toned it down. Maybe I should rev it up.

Thanks for this delightful drawings (grinning all over here!) and poetry and general light-heartedness (did I get this right?).

I walked by the H&M store here last week, the elegant one on Kärntner Strasse, windows full of "SR Here!" . alas I did not have the time to walk in. *drats* I comfort myself that they may have been sold out anyway. ;-)

Maybe I should knit myself a striped T-shirt, what do you think? I could start a new blog, "Sonio Rykiel Knitting for Beginners"! ;-)

I thought got everything I wanted at the H&M here in Chicago until I saw your haul. Boy, am I jealous! My fav is the little black jacket with the swingy skirt, although I am going to have to sag the skirt in order to wear it out of the house. We femmes d'un certain age don't look like Frenchy women--at least I don't. Can't wait to see my "portrait" in Sonia stripes! xo Sophia

I am truly a Sonia warrior. Long ago I dropped major $$ on a sweater set and a t-shirt and begged the salegirl not to tell me how much they were.Now I have to be content with H&M. Still, I keep looking at my beautiful Sonia sweaters when I open the closet and am so happy I went down there when I did.

I feel so good when I wear my Sonias, I don’t care that I spent a fortune.My husband calls this dollar cost averaging — a real accountant! I always dollar-cost-average at the cash register and then forget about it.

WOW! I love all the stuff you bought and seeing pictures of it! And I adore the link with Sade's Soldier of Love, lol! :)The stuff I ordered online arrived last weekend (it was held hostage by one of my neighbours, aaargh!) and it was so much fun to unwrap everything and try it on! Unfortunately, I'll have to send back two items: the frill jumper because it's too short for me and the sweaterdress, because it appeared too large. :) Should've ordered it in a smaller size.I'm very happy with my other stuff, though! Sticking the pins on everything :D. But seeing your stash makes me wonder: why didn't I bought all of that?! That's the downside of ordering online: you don't get to see the items very good and so you skip a lot of things that are actually really cute. Love your Sonia-collection! Have a happy Sonia-day!

@NENZ-to be able to order online..a dream walking but you missed the chaos and carnage that was kind of fun..the fighting, the yelling, the bad tempers..Keep the big ones and resell em I say..put the call out on yr blogThey will come running I promise.I considered parting with something but I couldn't do it :(Too greedy this Sonia Girl :)

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I moved to Paris 2 years ago. I should have done it sooner but that's how the macaron crumbles. Living on the Ile Saint Louis next to the Seine after the 19eme is 'la cerise sur la gâteau'. It doesn't get any better. I've painted watercolors for Bocuse, Champagne Mumm, Guerlain, Frederick Cassel, The Russian Tearoom and the Maharana of Udaipur.
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